At AI World Government, a panel of experts discussed the mindset and skill sets needed for AI engineering teams in the government. Dorothy Aronson, CIO and Chief Data Officer for the National Science Foundation, highlighted the need to approach AI responsibly and consider ethical implications. Vivek Rao, a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, spoke about how the acceleration of AI technology has raised expectations for young people in the workforce, who have grown up with digital technology. Rachel Dzombak, from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, asked the panel about the unique challenges of working on AI in government. Bryan Lane, director of Data & AI at the General Services Administration, emphasized the importance of resilience and being ready for the unexpected on an AI journey. He projected that it would take around five years to develop proven methods and best practices for developing AI systems in the government.
The panelists discussed the process of building AI teams, focusing on the importance of diverse skill sets and problem-solving approaches. They emphasized the need to bring people together around a problem, rather than a specific tool. Lane mentioned the effectiveness of cross-functional teams and involving customers of the services in the organization, which helps drive adoption and advocacy.
Overall, the panelists highlighted the need for responsible and ethical AI practices in government and the importance of building diverse and resilient teams. They discussed how the accessibility of AI for young people in the workforce has created a new mindset and set of expectations, and how the government needs to balance staying ahead with ensuring that users know how to interact with AI technology. The panelists also discussed how students today have high expectations of what AI can achieve, and how courses on innovation in disaster response can increase students’ interest in federal government careers.
Since the dawn of the 21st century, artificial intelligence (AI) has been disrupting many industries, including government. To promote the effective use of AI in government services, it is essential to have an effective AI engineering team in place. Digital natives excel in a wide range of AI engineering tasks, from developing software solutions to analyzing data. This article examines how digital natives can help government AI engineering teams and provides insights from the AI Source Hub, a resource center established to support the public sector’s use of AI.
As digital natives become increasingly prevalent in the workforce, they are pushing the public sector to evolve its use of AI. A digital native is someone who has grown up surrounded by technology and is therefore highly proficient in its use. This experience has made digital natives particularly adept at leveraging technology to solve problems. These capabilities are proving to be essential tools for government AI engineering teams.
Digital natives are comfortable working with technology and understand how to identify and troubleshoot its capabilities. This gives them the skillset to develop, debug and deploy AI software for specific tasks. This software can then be used to streamline government services and provide better insights. Additionally, digital natives can comb through public sector datasets and analyze the results in order to make more informed decisions.
Insights from the AI Source Hub, a resource center established to support the public sector’s use of AI, demonstrate how digital natives can help government AI engineering teams. The hub’s articles, podcasts, and best-practices reports provide digital natives with an understanding of how AI is being used in the public sector. For example, AI Source Hubs’ “Checklist For Developing Government AI Applications” outlines the various steps necessary to develop an AI application, including data analysis, technology selection, usage of algorithms, and debugging. Armed with this information, digital natives will be able to build and test applications for government use efficiently.
In conclusion, digital natives have the technical expertise to assist government AI engineering teams in developing software solutions and analyzing datasets, as demonstrated by the insights provided by the AI Source Hub. Their experience in using technology, combined with their understanding of AI techniques, makes them uniquely qualified to lead the way in public sector AI engineering.
This article has been prepared by Digital Natives. For more information, please contact Digital Natives at dnatives@company.com or visit www.company.com.